April 15, 2021, Are lawns bad?

Hi gardeners

Spring flower collage 

Here I am sitting here writing, listening to the wind roar outside.  I should be doing spring housecleaning- or cleaning out my mom’s house we are going to sell, instead my next chore planned is to pot up some dahlia tubers that are beginning to shrivel. This time of year, gardening takes preference over most other things.

I was outside this week during one of the rare sunny days watching the bees swarming the row of crocus by the deck. There were literally hundreds of honeybees there for a few days, must be a hive nearby. Some native bees were among them. I have a thick bed of various crocus about 8 feet long by my deck. There were some iris reticulata and Glory of the Snow nearby in bloom too.

I would have hyacinths in bloom soon, but the deer surprised me this year by deciding that hyacinths are not that bad after all. I have never had deer eat my hyacinths before.  It just goes to show that "deer resistant" is not a thing you can count on.

It occurred to me that these pollinators would be having a tough time if my nonnative, blooming plants were not here for them. There are some trees blooming, but the ones blooming now don’t do much for bees, as they are wind pollinated. Even dandelions aren’t blooming very well yet, they aren’t native but may as well be.

I also saw several butterflies this week, which surprised me. They were not on the crocus, just flying by. A few species of butterflies overwinter as adults and emerge when temps are above 60 degrees. Some butterflies sip tree sap this time of year, but others are looking for early blooming flowers. Here in Michigan’s thumb few native plants are blooming now.  Skunk cabbage in swampy areas, pussy willows, witch hazel, and maples, are some I know of.

Climate change has disrupted the coordination of when insects emerge and when food is available for them. That’s why it’s important to use nonnative plants in the garden as well as native ones. Spring flowering bulbs and hellebores, forsythia, and pansies, are a few early bloomers that can keep early emerging pollinators alive.

As climate change alters the environment, having plants that are suitable for the environment, regardless of where they originate from, is going to become more and more important. Please don’t assume that the only good plants for your garden are native ones.

Glory of the Snow

Gardeners in zones 6 and lower- it’s still time to use patience. It’s a rare April that we don’t have snow and freezing temps a few times in Michigan. It looks like this year is running about a week behind recent years as far as bloom times go. Be very cautious planting outside. Dormant trees, shrubs, and perennials can be planted. Pansies and violas can be planted.  You can sow leaf lettuce, peas, kale, radish, and onion sets in the ground if the ground isn’t too wet. Grass seed can be sown.

I would hold off planting most perennials that are already leafed out, annuals, all those pretty hanging baskets should be inside still and don’t move any houseplants outside yet. In two weeks, things should be a bit safer in zones 5-6, and by the end of May most things can be planted outside.

Don’t prune dead areas off plants like roses too soon either. The dead areas protect living tissue beyond them. When the plants have tiny leaves on surviving areas you can carefully remove all dead stems. And when you are removing stems from last years plants mark the location of slow to emerge plants like hardy hibiscus and buddleia, so you won’t damage or plant over them.

I have not seen any hummingbirds yet – usually they come back in this area around the end of April. But I’m cleaning my feeders and getting them ready.  Orioles usually come back around the same time.

iris reticulata

Let’s talk about lawns

Lawns are once again a hot topic here in the US with many people calling for their elimination. The Kentucky blue grass, heavily fertilized, irrigated and sprayed for insects, lawn is certainly not the best use of land. Do we have too much land devoted to lawn in the US? Maybe. But before you dig up the lawn and plant “native species” or just stop mowing, you need to consider many things.

A lawn has many definitions. You don’t have to have a plush carpet of bluegrass, you can let ground ivy, clover, violets, dandelions and other short weeds mix into the grass. But do keep your lawn mowed to 3 - 3 ½ inches high. This height allows many “weeds” to bloom and provide food for pollinators yet doesn’t look messy. You could call this a natural lawn. In this article, that’s the lawn I am talking about. It’s the type of lawn many of us have anyway.

Three to 3½ inches is a good height for most grasses too. It keeps them healthy because they have enough leaf surface to produce food. When you let grass get longer and then mow it, it goes into shock for a few days as this eliminates most of the green, food producing part of the plant at the end of the grass blade.

Good reasons for lawns

Keeping an area mowed around your home and important outbuildings does several things. Mowed areas create a fire break, and if you are in a wildfire prone area you may even want to irrigate that mowed area to keep it green. Experts suggest a minimum of 50 feet of mowed area around homes if wildfires frequent your area.

Mowed areas help keep ticks and mosquitoes at bay. Ticks are brought into unmowed areas by animals like rabbits, mice, and deer. They climb on those long strands of weeds and grass and wait to hop on you. Once they get into your “native species” or wild area you are going to have a hard time eliminating them.  Adult mosquitoes rest in tall vegetation during the day.

Mowed areas help eliminate hiding places for rats and mice (and the snakes that hunt them, if you dislike snakes). Public health officials are correct when they state that unmowed areas around homes often create a rat problem. You may be fine with rats, but rats travel long distances for food and water and your neighbors probably don’t want them around.

Mowed areas create spaces for entertaining and playing. If you have kids and pets, you want them to have a safe place to play near your home. You want to be able to see what’s growing there to avoid poison ivy and other poisonous plants popping up. Burs and other sticky seeds are unpleasant to remove from kids’ clothes and your pet’s fur and can even have health consequences.

Just stopping mowing or trying to start a wildflower meadow or “native habitat” around your home often doesn’t end well. You may get a ticket since many places have laws about controlling vegetation around dwellings. And quite frankly, most of these experiments make your home look like it has been abandoned, to put it kindly.

It doesn’t mean you can’t use the front yard for gardens if your municipality allows it. You can plant native plants if that is your thing. Just keep it neat and tidy, put the plants in “beds” and have paths and defined borders. Your backyard and other areas can be more informal, but a mowed area close to the back of the home is a wise plan too.

What will be tolerated depends on the area. In densely populated areas if it looks “weedy” and unkempt officials/neighbors aren’t going to care if you call it native habitat. But with a little planning, careful tending, and some mowed areas you can have those patches of native plants and no one will notice.

Be a good neighbor and keep truly noxious weeds like ragweed and stinging nettles cut down. Their pollen tortures the neighbors, and those plants are not beneficial to pollinators. Don’t plant aggressively spreading plants, native or not, close to lot lines.

Remember that many nonnative plants are attractive, suit your conditions and can also be beneficial to pollinators and wildlife. Including them in gardens often makes the garden more pleasing and familiar to neighbors and makes them less likely to complain about the landscaping.

Mowed areas are called edge habitat, when surrounded by trees and shrubs and taller vegetation. Rabbits, frogs and toads, and even deer like to spend some of their time in areas with short vegetation. Many species of birds that are found in urban and suburban environments prefer areas with mowed lawns. Mown areas help them spot predators and find insects on the ground.

Robins, song sparrows, chipping sparrows, killdeer, juncos, brown thrashers, gray catbirds, flickers, grackles, indigo buntings, bluebirds, cardinals, meadowlarks and red-tailed hawks are just some of the bird species that like edge habitat, with short vegetation. Even butterflies seem to prefer plants at the edges of mowed areas.

If you have lots of property, it’s fine to stop mowing or encourage native plants in areas more distant from your home. No one needs more than an acre of mowed area (unless you are really concerned about fire).  

It’s what you do to your lawn that matters

You don’t need to fertilize or weed the lawn. Let birds eat the grubs and other insects. There’s no need for pesticides unless you do get a severe insect problem, such as fire ants. Don’t rake clippings, mulch them back into the lawn. Mowing will take care of most tall weeds.

Don’t water large areas of lawn. You may want to water 50-75 feet around your home, enough to keep things green, if you live in a wildfire prone area. Or you may want to keep an area green that you use for entertaining or as a playground. Otherwise let your lawn go dormant in dry weather, except for “mercy” watering if there is an exceptionally long drought.

I hear a lot about the folly of American lawns, but mowed areas are better than paved areas, and even a monoculture of nonnative bluegrass is better than pavement. It absorbs carbon and water and cools the area. Lawns are not just vanity or a waste, there are practical purposes for keeping mowed areas around homes.

It’s not the mowed area that’s the problem, it’s how we care for that mowed area. If we get away from the “perfect” lawn concept and allow lawns to consist of a variety of plant species that are kept mowed, then there is nothing wrong with those lawns and you should not feel bad for having one.

 

Gardening simply does not allow one to be mentally old, because too many hopes and dreams are yet to be realized. – Allan Armitage

 

Kim Willis

 

No parts of this blog may be reproduced without permission.

March 18, 2022 Patience gardeners, patience

 Hi gardeners

Winter aconite should be blooming soon

It’s March and here in Michigan we’ve just had a few really nice days. The redwing blackbirds, the sandhill cranes, the killdeer, the robins and the bees are all back. The snowdrops are blooming, and in some places, crocus. I found it odd that the honeybees on my porch were swarming some cracked corn I put out for the birds.  There were snowdrops in bloom just below them and only a few bees were on them. I don’t know what they were getting from the corn.

And with a little warm weather people in Michigan are literally trying to plant their gardens outside. In March. In Michigan. We still have snowstorms in March. Heck, we sometimes have snowstorms in April.  Anyway, it’s not about how warm the air temperature is that determines when to plant, it’s about the soil temperature and soil condition. (For more about soil temps and planting click on the link at the bottom of this blog post.)

The very first thing you should learn if you are gardening outside is what planting zone you are in, and when your average first and last frosts are. So much about good gardening practices revolves around that information. You can ask other gardeners, a local garden store, your County Extension office or look up this information. There’s a link to an interactive planting zone map below the blog.

Patience is a flower every gardener should cultivate. If you are a gardener in zone 7 or higher, your time to plant might be here.  But all of you in planting zones 6 and lower, you need to be patient.

So let’s talk about March Gardening- zone 6 and lower

March is a tricky month for gardeners, especially in zones 5 and 6. The gardener is outside, walking the grounds, maybe seeing some early crocus in bloom in sheltered areas and hearing the robins sing. The urge is to get out there and do something in the yard.

Its amazing how anxious we are this time of year to jump into gardening. There are things gardeners can be doing but some things you do now cause more harm than good. Here are some safe things to do in your garden this month.

Seed starting

Late March is a great time to start things like tomatoes and peppers, which need a long time to grow into large transplants. Perennial flower seeds and herbs are also good to start early. In zone 6 and lower most other garden seeds shouldn’t be started inside until April. (If you are zone 7 or higher – some seeds can be planted outside now.)

And here’s a tip. Don’t start seeds inside if you can’t properly care for them. Most new gardeners start way too many seeds way too early in way too little light.  You need grow lights if you don’t have a greenhouse or cold frame. Even sunny southern windowsills won’t be enough light if your seedlings are more than 2 inches from the window, which doesn’t give you a lot of space. (See the link below about cold frames.)

Almost any plant you want for your garden can be bought at a local greenhouse or even at big box stores. Unless you set up a greenhouse or a grow light unit, keep your seed starting to a few heirloom plants or unusual things you might not find locally. You’ll be happier with the results and the plants will probably be healthier.

When you do start seeds inside- READ THE SEED PACKET DIRECTIONS. It will tell you
when to start the seeds indoors or if you should start them indoors. The directions will tell you how many weeks from your average last frost, counting backwards, to start seeds inside or for your planting zone when to start outside. If you don’t have a seed packet look the information up.

The only garden seeds that can be safely planted outside in March are garden peas. They can be planted as soon as the soil is thawed. Even snow won’t hurt them.

You can sow grass seed- yes even if it still snows.  Just make sure that your ground is dry enough you don’t leave large footprints or spreader ruts in the soil. The ground should not be frozen when you apply the seed. But you can sprinkle grass seed on top of a light cover of snow without problems. For zone 5-6 gardeners late March and early April are ideal times for seeding lawns.

You can shop for plants and supplies- good companies will ship plants at the right time to plant.  Some retail stores may get perennials in or bareroot roses and shrubs. Many perennials are shipped in from the south and are much more advanced than local plants. If you plant these outside now, you’ll probably get a lot of cold die back, which may or may not kill the plant.  Let the store care for them a while longer, mid-April is a safer time to plant these in zone 6 and lower.

Dormant bareroot plants can be planted as soon as the soil has thawed. Do not let bareroot plants start growing without being planted in soil. Keep them cool and dark and remove any shoots that sprout until you can plant them. Don’t buy bareroot plants that have long sprouts or lots of leaves. These plants have used up a lot of reserves and have a much-reduced chance of survival.

Winter damage check up

Check for damage from rodents, rabbits and deer. Look at the bottoms of trees and shrubs to see if the bark has been chewed. If a tree or shrub is totally girdled, (the bark is eaten off all around the tree), it may die. Some shrubs and even trees may return from the roots.

You’ll want to give damaged shrubs and trees extra water and fertilizer as new growth begins to help them recover. Grafted trees, such as most fruit trees, come back from rootstock that is generally undesirable for fruiting. You’ll want to remove those trees if they are girdled.

Pruning and clean up

Pruning fruit trees and grape vines can still be done. Get a good pruning manual and follow the directions. You may be able to get pruning information at your County Extension office. Don’t prune fruit trees that are kept just for spring flowers, such as ornamental cherries and crabapples now as you will reduce the bloom.

It’s a good time to prune many ornamental trees.  Don’t prune maples, birch, beech, or walnuts if the temperature is above freezing as it will cause heavy sap loss. Do not prune pines. Do not prune trees you want spring flowers from, like redbuds and magnolias.

Don’t prune off dead areas on semi-woody shrubs, clematis and roses for a bit longer. The dead area protects living tissue below it. If a cold snap comes and you have already pruned back to living tissue the cold may kill additional areas of the plant. You can prune buddleia right to the ground now but mark where it is as it is slow to start growing in the spring.

Some plants like arborvitae have darkened or reddish foliage right now from winter cold. Don’t prune that off. New buds will develop on those stems, or the plants will green up. Check later in May after deciduous trees have leaved out to see if there are dead areas to prune out.

Some clean up can be done now. Go cautiously here. Don’t remove protective mulches too early. Trim off dead leaves and stems carefully. Some of it is protecting the crowns of the plants. Mums for example, need to be budded out before all the old stems are removed. You may want to leave stems a few inches above ground for now. Stems also show you where plants are located.

You can cut back, or if you like drama, burn off, the old leaves of ornamental grasses now. Be careful with fire in early spring when things may be dry and there’s a lot of debris to burn. You may need a permit to burn grasses, leaves, or burn off ditches.

Don’t worry about overwintering beneficial insects too much as you clean up. If you compost what you remove or take your debris off to a far corner to sit, they will be fine. But if you don’t mind a messy look, don’t even clean up most of the left-over leaves and stems, they will quickly rot away with warm weather. Do remove thick matted layers of leaves down to a light layer though.

Other garden chores

You can apply dormant oil sprays.  A dormant oil spray is part of the good pest management program for fruit trees.  It is also used for some insect problems in ornamental trees. It can be applied when the weather is above 40 degrees but below 80 degrees.

Build new beds.  If your ground is dry enough to walk on and use equipment without making deep imprints and ruts, you can start new garden beds. Mix your soil and amendments and get everything ready to plant.

Apply manure and compost. If you use manure now is the time to apply it generously to empty beds, go lightly on occupied ones.  Compost is good for all beds but don’t add it until the ground is thoroughly thawed and don’t make it too deep over existing plants.

Turn the compost pile or start a new one. Turning the pile will help it warm faster and get it cooking again after winter.  If you don’t have a compost pile, find a good spot to start one and get going.

Clean and sharpen garden tools. Check mowers for any needed parts and sharpen the blades or replace with new ones. Clean out your garden shed.  Check your garden hoses.  Stock up on potting soil and buy your seeds while the selection is good. Better to spend a day shopping for garden supplies while it is still brisk and wet outside, rather than a warm sunny one when you would rather be working outside!

Clean out, repair, and replace bird houses. The birds are returning from the south and looking for nesting spots. Keep your feeders full, there’s not much native food left this time of year. It’s too early for hummingbird feeders (zone 6 and lower), the fluid may freeze and crack the feeder, and the hummers probably aren’t coming back until mid April at the minimum.  If you do see a stray one, put up the feeder, and bring it in on cold nights.  Orioles probably won’t be back until April either, but if you see them, grape jelly in a dish is a good alternative to nectar.

Remember to stay off your soil if it is too wet. You will compact it and cause a lot of damage to soil structure. It’s too wet if you pick up a handful of soil, squeeze it, open your hand and it stays in a clump. That’s too wet to walk on or plant.

One of the things you can do is plan. That may mean sitting in the sun and daydreaming or walking around measuring and drawing plans. Good plans make great gardens. Spring is coming. But a good gardener knows how to satisfy the urges without damaging the plants.

 

Snowdrops

I grow plants for many reasons: to please my eye or to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow. – David Hobson

  

So, enjoy the nice weather but take it slow

Kim

 

 No part of this blog may be reproduced or published without permission.

  

Links you might enjoy

 Planting zones

 

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/know-your-garden-zone.html

Growing snowdrops

 https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/snowdropsa-shy-and-secretive-beauty.html

Soil temperature and planting

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/soil-temperature-and-planting.html

 Interactive zone map

https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/

 

 

March 2, 2022 Are native plants better?

 Hi gardening friends

Meteorological spring has arrived and signs that true spring is coming are popping up all over. The spring equinox is March 20. When I went to the barn this morning the temps were in the 20’s but the sun was shining, and the birds were singing like crazy. I stopped for a few minutes to put my face in the sun and listen for red wing blackbirds or robins. I didn’t hear any, but I expect them any day.

The day was supposed to be cloudy and rainy or snowy, so the morning sun was a pleasant surprise. Now the clouds are moving in but the temps have moved above 40 degrees so we should get rain instead of snow.

I am so ready for spring and flowers. I looked for snowdrops, they are up but not blooming yet.  A few warm days will probably bring them into bloom. People just 50 miles south have them in bloom. After snowdrops there will be winter aconite and crocus and from there the world explodes into bloom.

I have been slow to get the gardening itch this year, but I’m scratching now. Last night I paged through several print garden catalogs, and I have started actually looking at all the plant sales that pop into my inbox instead of moving them to trash. I stood outside yesterday deciding which seedling trees need to cut down and where I want to add and subtract plants.

I’m trying not to be too ambitious with this year’s garden because I have so many family obligations this spring. But it’s hard in spring with all the promise of the garden season stretching ahead of me not to get carried away. I’m hoping for a long, and mild spring.

I wrote an article below about choosing plant species for your garden and why it’s important not to choose plant species that other people have decided you should plant. It seems like virtue and saving the planet have merged into a strident movement to plant only “native” plants.

But gardeners should plant what they like if it suits the conditions of garden. Gardening is an art form, a mental therapy exercise, and a learning experience, and unless someone is paying you to do it their way, you should do what pleases you in your garden.

 

Should you only plant native plants?

It’s spring and the gardener’s thoughts turn to planting- and buying- plants.  And if you listen to the native plant pushers on social media the only plants you should dare to plant are native species. Don’t fall for the propaganda. It’s based on a lot of romantic, wishful thinking that planting only “native” plants will somehow save the world.

Don’t get me wrong, native plants aren’t bad. If you can put at least some native species in a garden it’s a good idea. But there is no reason that any gardener needs to limit themselves to only native plants.

Are native plants easier to grow?

Native plants are not easier to grow than most non-natives. In fact, some native plants are quite hard to establish and require much more care than common non-native garden plants. There are gardens composed of all native plants that are beautiful. But those gardens required quite a bit of effort and they need attention to remain beautiful, just like any other garden.

For example, the idea of sprinkling a “wildflower” seed mix on a piece of ground and having it spring up into a beautiful field of flowers is just advertising hype. You must carefully prepare the soil before you plant and then you’ll need to weed out aggressive plants that will want to overtake the “wildflowers”, both native and non-native bullies. And you’ll be lucky to get a pretty show for a short time in the second year, as most of these wildflowers don’t bloom the first year from seed.

Are native plants better for pollinators and other animals?

In most cases native plants are not more helpful to pollinators, birds and other animal species in the area. There are a few insects that require a specific “host” plant. But non-native plants can provide just as much food and shelter for most other inhabitants of any ecosystem as native plants. And in some cases, they are superior to natives in providing these things.

Putting some native host plants in your garden is a fine idea, but your whole garden does not need to be designed around native plants. Gardens with non-native plants support a higher diversity and number of pollinators, helpful insects and birds than if the gardens held only native plants or were left unplanted.

Often people judge plant species not for their value to other creatures in the environment but for human values. For example, planting native grasses in a garden is not helpful to pollinators and most insects. Yet the human gardener feels justified with the choice because they feel by planting “native” plants they somehow are helping save the planet. Planting buddleia, Dames Rocket, zinnias, roses, and other blooming non-natives would be so much better for everything else.

Do non-native plants spread outside the garden and displace native plants?

Non-native plants do not “displace” native plants when used in the garden unless you dig up native plants to plant them. Worrying about non-natives spreading to “wild” places is also over hyped. Most common garden plants don’t spread very far outside the garden and if they did, would harm nothing.

There are some non-native plants that are aggressive spreaders, and you should learn what those plants are- FOR YOUR AREA- and avoid planting them. But beware-many of the plants bashed by native plant pushers are not aggressive spreaders in all areas. Buddleia or butterfly bush comes to mind. In planting zones 5 and lower this plant rarely, if ever, spreads outside the garden. But native plant pushers are constantly warning all gardeners not to plant it.  

And just because non-native plants occupy space doesn’t mean they displaced native plants. In most cases they occupy disturbed land, land changed by human activity. This land is no longer suitable for native plants that once grew in the area, or they would be growing there.

Dames Rocket, a pretty, fragrant, flowering non-native plant that bees and butterflies love, often grows along roadsides and paths. Dames Rocket probably spread to wild areas from gardens at some point. There is no similar native flowering plant that would do well in these disturbed areas. Yet the native plant purists are out there spending thousands of dollars and labor hours getting rid of it.

What harm does planting only native plants do?

In a world where climate change is drastically altering what will grow well in any location, introducing new species may be the key to saving an ecological system. Nature has always allowed new species into ecosystems. Natural ecosystems constantly evolve and change. Diversity of species, no matter where they come from and how they get there, allows for adaptation and is the key to keeping any ecosystem thriving.

Besides limiting diversity, there are other problems that the native plant fad has created. Poaching native plants from natural environments to sell to gardeners has soared in many areas, particularly of cacti and succulents and some rare woodland plants. Most sellers will claim they raised the plants from seed or propagated them but there is little the average gardener can do to check this claim. This is a serious threat to these species’ survival in the natural environment.  Gardeners should not purchase rare or endangered native plants at all.  And gardeners should not collect seed from endangered plants in the wild, it should be left to reproduce plants in that area.

Another threat to natural environments comes from the relentless and often ridiculous effort to eradicate non-native plants in natural areas. Huge amounts of pesticides are being used in many cases to eradicate non-native plants. These pesticides directly impact all species of plants and animals in the area, usually much more than leaving the alien plants alone.

There are attempts to eradicate plants that have been in certain places for more than 100 years and which have become entwined and part of the local environment. And this is simply ridiculous as it will never restore what somebody thinks was the “natural” ecosystem because ecosystems constantly change. Because something is relatively new in an environment does not mean it is bad. Nature has always been changing and adapting.

Money is the driving force behind a lot of the native plant movement. People who are making money producing native plants are going to tell you that they are better for the environment, easier to grow and that you are somehow more righteous for growing them. They want to sell plants.

People whose jobs are selling pesticides or directing teams of people removing non-natives are not going to admit that much of what they are doing is useless or even harmful. The removal of non-native plants is a whole industry in itself. Some believe what they are doing is good stewardship. Only a very few plants deserve such intensive efforts to remove them. Nature is very good at adapting to change, but it’s very difficult to change a money-making environment.

What would you be giving up if you only plant native plants?

If you are going to stick to native plants, you’ll need to decide just what native means to you.  Is it native to North America (or wherever you are) or native to your immediate, local area?  And then which of those species will grow in your soil, your light, and drainage conditions? Are you going to use improved varieties of native plants or stick to wild forms?  You can see your selection could get very narrow.  

I can’t imagine spring in my garden without tulips, daffodils, peonies and lilacs or summer without roses, clematis, hosta, poppies, daylilies and hydrangeas and fall without mums, buddleia and toad lilies. These are just some common non-native plants. I’m fine with mixing in some goldenrod, milkweed, and echincea, all natives. Maybe that’s not your type of garden.  But the point is a garden is a cultivated space, and gardeners should not be afraid to add plants that are not native to it.

Don’t get hung up on what plants are native or non-native when planning a garden. Plant things that are suitable for the conditions your garden has and that you like. This will give you hundreds of choices and the ability to plan something you love while still providing for creatures like pollinators.

Your bit of garden space cannot revert to “native” status.  In the last century or so the piece of ground you intend to garden on has changed immensely. The soil has changed, the weather has changed, the plants and animals that surround it have changed. Even if humans haven’t touched it in a hundred years it has changed. Nature constantly changes. You are not going to restore it to a native state, because that state doesn’t exist.

Gardens, by definition, are cultivated places, that is people plant them and tend them.  And gardens of all kinds are good for the environment and support other creatures besides us. Your garden should be the garden you dream of, and don’t let people shame you into something else.

 

The garden suggests there might be a place where we can meet nature halfway. – Michael Pollan

 

Kim Willis

No part of this blog may be reproduced without permission. To contact me for any reason,  write to kimwillis151@gmail.com

 

 

February 14, 2022 - Happy Valentines Day

 

Hi gardeners

See the morning glory down in the right corner?

 It’s been a while since I wrote but I wanted to share the picture of the morning glory in my kitchen window. It came up from seed in a pot I brought inside last fall. It’s a bit stunted but it’s also pretty.  It makes me wonder if all kinds of morning glories could be grown inside in winter, maybe in better pots. You can see the geranium cuttings blooming also.

Morning glory seed normally requires stratification, but this didn’t get any.  But if someone did stratify seed and kept them in a south window (this window faces south), and they were in larger pots and fertilized I wonder what would happen.  That’s a project for next year.

You can see birds in the pictures outside my window at the feeders. So, onto birds. Most gardeners like to watch birds in their yard also. February 18-21 is the Great Back Yard Bird count, and you can help.  Knowing the population numbers of various species of birds helps scientists determine if the species is declining or growing in numbers. It can determine if birds are moving their ranges due to climate change.

On one or all three of the above dates you simply count the birds you see at your feeders or on a walk in your area. You can do it from inside where it’s warm if you like. Some adventurous people go out in the cold to observe and count birds at nature sanctuaries or parks also.

If you go to the site  https://www.birdcount.org/  they will explain how to sign up to count birds, and there are even tips on bird ID.  You don’t have to be an expert at all. It’s quite simple and you can volunteer as much or as little of your time as you like.  I’ve done it for years and it’s fun.

 

How are your houseplants?

This time of year can be tough for houseplants. Online garden sites are full of sad houseplant pictures with owners asking for help. Three things seem to be very common this year, plants with cold damage, plants without enough light and plants that are dying of thirst.

First, it’s not a good time to buy houseplants especially if they have to be shipped. It only takes a few hours in a cold truck or warehouse for plants to be damaged, and often killed. Most good sellers realize this and won’t ship until the weather is right in your area. But there are literally hundreds of small start-up plant sellers online now and many of them are either inexperienced or unscrupulous. They collect your money and ship the plants even when conditions aren’t good.  Many of these are the sellers that don’t guarantee plants or won’t honor a guarantee.

If you are buying plants from a store locally you need to be careful this time of year too.  The plant must be wrapped, preferably in paper not plastic, even for a short walk to your car when temps are below 40 degrees.  Your car should be warmed up and you need to go straight home.  You cannot go shopping at other stores or go inside to eat and leave the plant in a cold car, even for a short time. And when you get home the plant should come inside first, before you unload other items.

Signs of cold damage include blackened, wilted leaves, or leaves that rapidly fall off the plant. It can show up right away or even a few days later. Usually the damage occurs from transporting plants but it can also happen when plants sit in front of doors that are frequently opened or when they are in cold drafts. If you lose power and temps drop below 40 degrees F. damage can occur.

And for goodness sake don’t put houseplants outside in winter months, even if temps have climbed into the fifties. I have read a few stories lately of people doing that and then forgetting to bring the plants inside as the temps rapidly fall in the evening. Leave them inside until nights stay above 40 degrees F.  They don’t need to be outside until then, they don’t appreciate being moved in and out, even if it’s sunny outside.

Some plants recover from moderate cold damage given time, but some do not. Most blackened leaves are goners- they don’t recover. Some plants grow back from the roots, others put out new leaves. If the plant is now in a warm spot and you don’t see any new growth after a month, it’s probably dead.

Light

Somewhere along the line people began to believe that there are species of plants that can live in dark rooms. While there are plants that can survive in lower light levels that does not mean in a room without windows, or far from any window unless you use grow lights. Plants suffering from low light get yellow leaves, drop leaves, get spindly looking, and stretch toward the light. In vining plants, the spaces between leaves are far apart. Plants don’t bloom and growth is poor.

Lower light means in front of an east or north window, no more than 2 feet from a south or west window or in consistently brightly lit rooms. This applies to all those plants like snake plant, peace lily, pothos and other plants advertised as liking low light. Even plants that are said to be “low light” lovers appreciate sunny windows from about November to March.

Bright light means right in front of that south or west window. In the winter in northern states even this may not be enough light for plants that require bright conditions. You’ll need to provide a grow light also.  

And it does no good to put a plant in the window if the blinds or curtains are drawn most of the time. Even sheer curtains filter out an awful lot of light. Plants also need to be up in front of the window not down below the window ledge.  

Grow lights are so cheap now, and LED ones use so little electricity that there’s just no excuse to leave a plant languishing in dark corners. There are attractive clip-on types and those you hang or use on a stand. Grow lights need to be about 2 feet above plants that like lower light and a foot above those that like bright light.  You may need to adjust them as plants grow.

Some plants may survive for a while in that windowless bathroom, or that darkened bedroom or on the shelf 10 feet from the window, but they won’t be lush, healthy plants. Plants must have light to make food for their growth and survival.

 

Pitcher plants require very moist conditions

Water

It used to be that watering problems tended to be overwatering and new plant owners were warned about overwatering constantly. Some people do overwater still, especially if they refuse to use pots with drainage holes.  But the trend seems to have overcorrected itself and now I see many plants that are dying from thirst.

I have read stories where the owner of the dying plant says something like “I give it a tablespoon of water every 2 weeks, so I know I’m not overwatering it.” And they aren’t, they are letting it die of thirst.  Succulents are very popular and yes, some species need little water. But some species of succulents need more water than people tend to give them. And other types of plants can use much more water.

If a plant is wilting, yellowing, leaves look wrinkled or shrunken it’s time to check the pot. Over and under watering symptoms can look the same but if the soil feels dry and the pot feels light, it needs water.  Don’t be afraid to water your plants!

Proper watering of houseplants is not so much about how much water you give them but when and how you water them. And you cannot put plants on a regular watering schedule, you need to adjust watering times to the season, temperature, growth of the plant, humidity, pot size and other factors. You need to feel the soil or use a water meter to know when to water.

To water properly, all pots must have good, free flowing drainage, even pots for succulents. Rocks in the bottom of a pot are not a substitute for drainage holes.  Each species of plant has different water requirements but with few exceptions, all plants can be watered the same way. You drench the pot with water until it runs out the bottom. Then you wait an hour or so and drain off any water in the saucer. That’s the proper way to water, at least until you are experienced enough to judge water needs by the plant’s appearance.

You adjust how much water the plant gets by when you do that soaking. Plants like peace lilies like moist soil so you will drench them whenever the top of the soil feels dry and certainly any time they begin to wilt.  Plants like many succulents can be left to thoroughly dry out between waterings, then soaked. Look up the species of plants that you have and find out what type of soil moisture they require.

Most plants fall somewhere in between succulents and peace lilies, so you will stick your finger in the soil and see if its dry an inch down or so and then drench them.  If the soil still feels wet you won’t water, even if it’s Sunday or whatever day you like to water. You need to know what moisture level each species of plant prefers.

Sometimes when you allow soil to get very dry it actually repels water instead of soaking it up. Water seems to be running out the drainage holes but its all running through, none is being absorbed. If water seems to run out as soon as you start pouring it in, this is probably the case. In this case you can set the pot in a sink or tub and run water on it very slowly for about 30 minutes. Or you can sink the pot in a bucket of water until the soil surface is covered and hold it down until it no longer floats, and no bubbles are rising up. Then take it out and let it drain.

Having the right potting soil makes a difference also. Don’t use soil from outside for houseplants, use potting medium. Succulents and cacti, of most species, need a coarser, better draining soil than other plants. Orchids and some other rare plants need bark chips or other medium instead of soil.

After light, water and keeping the plant from getting too cold problems with houseplants often come when people repot them too often or split them when they shouldn’t be split or divide them too often.  Not all plants can be propagated by dividing them. And every time you repot a plant it disturbs the root system which causes stress to the plant. It’s a rare plant that needs repotting more than once a year.

Moving a plant is also stressful.  Chose the right place for the plant when you bring it home. Move a plant only when it’s obvious it’s in the wrong spot and not growing well. In nature plants do not move from location to location.  You should not move plants around like you do furniture or other décor.

Houseplants can also suffer from disease and insects, but this article would be too long if I covered those topics. I will say that if plants have enough light and the right type of watering, you’ll have fewer pest problems.

Houseplants brighten dull winter days and give gardeners something to tend when they can’t work in the garden. But take the time to identify your houseplants and then find out what conditions they require. Plants with sufficient light and proper watering will reward you by growing more beautiful each week.

To the right of this article are links to articles about some species of houseplants. You may want to try these links;  Peace lily

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/peace-lily-do-youwant-houseplant-that.html

Snake plants

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/sansevieria-snake-plants-and-mother-in.html

Tropical hibiscus

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/chinese-hibiscus-rosea-sinesis.html

Norfolk Island Pine

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/httpsgardeninggrannysgardenpages.html

 

 

 Happy Valentines Day everyone

Kim Willis

Nothing in this article may be used without permission. Contact author at kimwillis151@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

January 3, 2022 Flowers in Winter

 Hi gardening friends

 

My new amaryllis

We got three inches of snow yesterday and its bitter cold, but the sun came out today. I saw it lighting up the orange geranium (pelargonium for the picky) in my kitchen window.  I am amazed with that cutting, it has a big orange flower head that has held at least 2 weeks with no falling petals, no wilting, no browning.  I transplanted it from the jar of water I rooted it in, to a pot of soil just as the first flowers were opening. I thought maybe it would drop that flowerhead from transplanting stress.  I was wrong.

It probably has near perfect conditions in that window, strong light, cooler conditions, especially at night, and no wind or rain to mess up the flowers. But still it amazes me how long that single flower clump has lasted. And now I have another cutting in water getting ready to bloom, time to pot it up.

If you like blooming houseplants and have a sunny window you can’t go wrong with geraniums. As a girl I saved my money from babysitting to buy feed for the rabbits I raised for 4-H.  My dad would drive me a few miles to a tiny village north of us called Gingellville, to a place called Bill’s Feedstore to buy my rabbit feed. I loved to browse in that place, while my dad waited impatiently in the car.

Old Bill, as everyone called him, was a small skinny man who looked to me to be 100 years old. He had a big picture window that faced south in the store. In that window were several huge geraniums easily 4 feet high and they were always loaded with big red blooms even in winter. I was fascinated with the plants because I had never seen geraniums that large and because they were blooming in winter.

One day I got up the nerve to ask him where he got the plants and he said he took them from the garden one year and he’d had them in the window at least 20 years. He told me geraniums were like weeds and then he broke off a piece and gave it to me. He told me to stick it in a pot of soil when I got home and keep it watered and it would grow into my own geranium plant.

My orange geranium - it was difficult to get a good shot 
of it in the kitchen window.  You can see the other cutting 
getting ready to bloom.

I already had a bedroom window full of plants and I took it home and did just as Bill said. My grandma stored her geraniums that she grew in her flowerbeds in the summer in brown paper bags in her basement over the winter. She didn’t have room upstairs for them. She told me mine would take a bit of time to grow and bloom, and it did, but eventually I had a geranium in bloom in my bedroom window.

If you like flowers in the winter, as I do, the geranium is just the plant for you. You need a sunny window for them to bloom, but if you can give them south or west exposure, you’ll probably have flowers all winter.  And geraniums come in many colors, upright and vining forms, variegated leaves almost as pretty as the flowers, and even scented leaves. If you tend to collect varieties of plants you like, then geraniums give you plenty of choices for collecting.

In the house geraniums need bright light for bloom, allow them to dry a little between waterings, feed them lightly once a month and if you can provide nights cooler than the day so much the better. You can bring in plants you had in the garden or in pots on the patio before it frosts or take cuttings from outside plants for smaller plants inside. Geranium cuttings root very easily in water or soil.

Geraniums aren’t the only plants that will bloom inside over the winter. The Chinese, or tropical hibiscus will thrill you with huge colorful blooms all winter if you have room for them. I have 5 huge red flowers on one in my bedroom, and some fluffy double pink flowers on a plant blooming in the living room.  I have another hibiscus plant with yellow and red swirled flowers that isn’t blooming at the moment.

Most of the tropical hibiscus make small trees and can take up a lot of space but they are so worth it. They also need very strong light to bloom, being kept moist and fed once a month. Some bloom in cycles, blooming for a few weeks, then resting a few weeks. Like geraniums there are many colors, some variation in shapes of both flowers and plants, and some hibiscus even have pretty variegated foliage. These hibiscuses can go outside in the summer but can’t take any frost.

Here's my bedroom window with hibiscus and amaryllis 
in bloom.

Other notable winter flowering houseplants are gerbera daisies, the holiday cacti, (Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter), streptocarpus, African violets, the fibrous rooted begonias, small-flowered fuchsias, episcia, kalanchoe, dwarf pomegranate, and pentas. 

Orchids have winter flowering types but can be tricky to grow. There are some jasmines that flower indoors in winter. Many lemon and other citrus bloom in winter, although the flowers aren’t that showy. Specialty catalogs have often have unusual species of plants that bloom in the winter.

The peace lily will flower on and off all winter if it has the right conditions. It needs much brighter light than most people tend to give it to flower well.  Inside in winter the peace lily should be right in front of a south or west window or under a grow light. (In summer outside it is a shade plant, and it will tolerate lower light indoors but not bloom well.)

Amaryllis will flower inside in winter if started in pots in the fall. They then need a dormant period before blooming again.  I lucked out with the new amaryllis I bought this fall. So far it has had four blooms and has another bud stalk developing. Adeniums can flower in winter but are quite expensive and can be tricky to grow. Sometimes florist type azaleas that spent the summer outside will bloom in the winter indoors.

You can experiment with a number of tender perennials inside for winter. I have had impatiens come up from seed dropped in larger pots during the summer, that were brought inside. They generally sprout around November and begin blooming in January and they will bloom all winter once they start.  I have an evolvulus plant that is inside blooming off and on under a grow light.

Many plants you grow in the garden won’t bloom inside. Many perennials need a winter chilling period to set flower buds. Most annual plants that grew through the summer won’t continue in the winter. If you plant some annuals in pots in the fall you might get bloom in mid-winter when the days begin to lengthen. Beware some annuals also won’t grow without a chilling period for the seeds.

I have a morning glory seed that sprouted in a pot I brought inside this fall. Normally they would require some cold stratification to begin growing, but there it is. I’ll see if it will continue to grow and bloom. It’s in the south kitchen window in a pot of aloe that was outside this summer.

Another plant that I always have come up from seed in pots I bring inside is the woodland nicotiana. They require strong light inside and a lot of space because the plants get huge. Plants can reach 5 feet high and individual leaves 2 feet long. I have never transplanted them into their own pot and tried to get a large plant, although I have had some stunted plants actually bloom inside. This year I am experimenting with one transplanted into its own pot, although I don’t know if I’ll have room for it to mature.

Marigolds will sprout inside without any particular seed treatment, and you will get them to bloom in about 6 weeks if they are in a south window or under grow lights.

Miniature roses can bloom inside in the winter, but they need very strong light and tend to have lots of problems with insects and diseases inside. If you try to grow them inside use a south window or grow lights, you may need both, treat them with a systemic rose product for insects and disease and feed them regularly.

In winter there are a number of small potted plants sold for their colorful flowers that are a once and done thing too. After a short bloom period they either die or go dormant. This includes many pots of forced spring blooming bulbs, mums, pocketbook plant, alstroemeria and assorted other blooming plants. They can perk things up for a short time anyway.

Flowers brighten the winter days and there’s no reason to be without something blooming in the house in the dreary days when we are housebound. Foliage is nice but flowers really lift the spirits. If nothing else find some geraniums to light up your world.

Pretty pink geranium

Below are some additional articles you may want to read.

 

African violets

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/growing-african-violets-african-violets.html

Amaryllis

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/houseplants-amaryliss4-amaryllis-did.html

Chinese Hibiscus

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/chinese-hibiscus-rosea-sinesis.html

 

"Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul."

-      Luther Burbank

Stay warm

Kim

This article may not be used without permission.

 

 

 

December 20, 2021, Winter Solstice, Christmas plants and Tourtiere

Happy New Year’s eve

The savory smell of my traditional meat pies is filling the air as I write this.  I am making them for our New Year’s breakfast tomorrow. (Recipe at the end of this blog.) Flowers are blooming inside, and my plants are enjoying the sun filtering through the window. It’s cold but above freezing and there’s just a bit of snow on the ground.

We are lucky to get more sun and warmer weather than normal here this year. For all of you who have had terrible weather, and even horrible damage from weather, I hope for you better weather and better times in the new year.

Whether you go by the Gregorian calendar or not, tomorrow is the beginning of a new year by the natural cycle of the sun.  Winter Solstice occurs in the morning and the sun will begin to climb again in the sky. This cycle does take 365 days+/- a few minutes but the suns year started on December 21, 2020, not January 1, 2021, on the human calendar. I don’t know why people shifted the beginning and end of the natural year to a different start and end. Maybe to prolong those solstice celebrations?

December 20^th is the last day of the natural year based on the suns annual cycle.  December 21^st is the calendar date of the first day of meteorological winter and the natural first day of the new year. For EST the exact time of winter solstice is 10:59 am, December 21^st.  However most traditional celebrations begin at midnight on the 20^th.

And although winter solstice is the shortest day technically, the days just before and after winter solstice are only seconds shorter or longer. We will have 4 minutes more daylight by December 31^st. By the end of January 52 more minutes have been added

Winter solstice always makes me very happy because the dregs of the year, the darkest times are over and slowly the days begin to lengthen and the sun, the source of life, grows stronger and climbs higher each day. It’s getting closer to gardening time with each passing day now. Oh, yes there will still be some dark, cold times ahead, but there is the knowledge that we are moving forward to better times.

It must have been a little disconcerting for early migrators from equatorial zones to see the sun getting lower in the sky and the days growing colder and shorter in their new homelands.  Naturally they would monitor the skies, hoping for the sun to return to normal. The farther north (or south) you move the more drastic the difference in winter and summer would become.

It amazes me that early man, long before our powerful and precise instruments were developed, was able to so accurately follow the suns cycle and predict the date of solstice.  Knowing what to expect, is of course, a great relief to most humans.

Celebrating winter solstice

Our distant ancestors knew that the sun was the key to life. Long before Hanukkah, long before Christmas, long before all other holidays, people celebrated the winter solstice, the turning point of the sun. At winter solstice the sun has been resurrected or reborn. When the sun “turned and began to come back” it was a signal that life would continue. This has always been a time for great celebration. 

Our ancestors believed that man was closest to the spiritual realm in the days around winter solstice.  It was a solemn time of meditation and reflection, a time to relinquish fears and cares in the old year and look forward to better times in the new. Fires were lit to symbolically burn fears, cares and transgressions. 

The proper way to celebrate solstice eve is to build a fire, small or large. Oak wood for the fire had spiritual significance in earlier times. Then you transfer your cares, problems, and sins from the old year to something you can burn, pinecones, written notes, sprigs of herbs and so on, and burn them.  After burning the past, say what you want in the new year. For three days you should reflect on the old year and plan for the new.

At the end of about 3 days of solemn retrospection, there should be feasting and visiting with the community (not this year though, unless virtually) to celebrate life and the promise of the new year. Small gifts were given in past times, mostly for luck in the new year, which is the probable origin of gift giving at this time of year. 

If you wish to gift people Winter Solstice gifts should be small and symbolic, herbal and dried flower bougets, handmade items, special foods, plants, cards with special notes for friends and family, books and so on.

Our ancestors also brought greenery into the house, pine boughs and other evergreens which symbolize eternal life. Mistletoe warded off evil. This is where the custom of decorating the home with evergreen trees and wreaths began. So feel free to decorate with live greenery.

Christmas, not coincidently, falls about three days after winter solstice. Several hundred years after Christ was supposedly born Christian religious leaders were struggling to keep people from celebrating the pagan celebrations of winter solstice. They decided to embrace it, giving Christians a holiday they could celebrate without guilt. Still many Christian groups would not allow either celebration for hundreds of years.

You can celebrate both holidays if you like. Certainly, there is a great need for burning away the cares and problems of the past year. And we need the hope of a better year.

 

Christmas Plants

 

Even though it’s cold in many areas many plants are sold around Christmas for decoration and as gifts. I’ll give some links to articles on the care of individual species but there are some generalities to consider when bringing Christmas plants home.

First protect plants from the cold when taking them from the store to your car. For some plants even a short blast of cold air can cause problems. If temperatures are below 40 degrees F make sure to cover the plant before it goes outside and move it to a warm car quickly. It belongs in the passenger compartment, not the trunk.

And don’t leave the plant in the car while you shop at other stores or worse overnight. This will kill most plants sold at Christmas if temps fall below freezing. Poinsettias and other indoor plants cannot be used as porch decorations if you live in the north.

It’s also not the time of year to buy plants that need to be shipped. Plants left in unheated warehouses and delivery vans are going to arrive damaged or dead. Reputable and experienced nurseries won’t ship plants to you if they believe they may get too cold. But there are many inexperienced and not so reputable people out there selling plants that will ship them to you- and hope you won’t bother them for a refund.

If you are buying or are gifted plants you want to keep living after the holidays follow these tips. Remove the colorful foil from the plant as soon as possible and make sure the pot can drain.  Keep the plant away from heat sources and drafts. Check to see if the soil feels dry before you water the plant but do water it before it wilts. 

Plants can survive low light for a few days while you use them for centerpieces and décor, but you need to get them into the light conditions they prefer as soon as possible.  In the northern half of the US and in Canada winter sun is not strong and if you do not have a south or west window plants can sit in directly, consider using a grow light over them.

Make sure people don’t dump drinks in plants. And many Christmas plants can be harmful to children and pets, so keep them away. Poinsettias get a bad rap for being poisonous, but they are only mildly toxic, causing vomiting if enough is eaten. Mistletoe, Jerusalem cherry (Solanum pseudocapsicum) and yews are very toxic and probably shouldn’t be brought into homes with children and pets. Make sure to identify and look up the toxicity of any plant you bring inside if you have children and pets.

Live evergreen trees that are hardy outside should only be kept inside for a week or so and kept away from heat sources.  Then move them outside, even in cold areas.  Rosemary sheared into a tree shape should be moved to a cool (temps 40-60 degrees F), but bright place if you want it to stay healthy until spring.

Here are some links to articles on Christmas plant long term care.

 Amaryllis

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/houseplants-amaryliss4-amaryllis-did.html

Christmas and Thanksgiving cacti

http://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/christmas-thanksgiving-and-easter-cacti.html

 

Frosty Fern

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/frosty-fern-selaginiela-krausianna.html

 

Mistletoe- note, this won’t grow in the house

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/mistletoe-strangler-and-kiss-mistletoe.html

Norfolk Island Pine

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/httpsgardeninggrannysgardenpages.html

 

Poinsettias

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/if-you-got-poinsettia-for-christmas-you.html

 

Rosemary- scroll down this page on herbs until you find rosemary

 http://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/herbs-growing-and-using.html

 

Tourtiere – French Canadian Meat pies

 

Meat pies are one of those items that have popularity in many parts of the world and each family who enjoys meat pies and makes their own may have a slightly different recipe.  My family is of French-Canadian ancestry and meat pies have always been part of our Christmas breakfast.  First my paternal grandmother made them, then my father and now I make them, along with some of my sisters, to carry on the tradition.

 

Typically, French Canadian Catholics ate meat pie after midnight mass.  In our family that was moved to later, on Christmas morning.  Our meat pies were spicy with black pepper and liberally doused with ketchup- which is also a common topping in Canada.

 

You can vary the spices in your meat pie, I have seen old recipes use thyme, rosemary, bay, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, as well as pepper and garlic.  Onions are a part of most meat pies.  Our meat pies always had potato in them- my grandfather also liked turnip in them when he had some.  But in earlier times it was said that only those poor enough not to have much meat added potatoes.  

 

I use ground beef and some spicy sausage in my meat pies, but others add venison, ground pork, veal or lamb.  About 3 pounds of meat will make two standard pies.  Feel free to experiment with meats and spices to make your own family recipe.

 

Ingredients

 

2 pounds of lean ground beef

1 pound of spicy (hot) ground sausage

6 cups of frozen Potatoes O’Brian (potatoes with onions and peppers)

  Or 4 cups of finely diced potatoes and 2 cups of finely diced onion

½ teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)

½ teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon seasoned salt (or to taste)

 

pie dough for 2 double crust pies

1 tablespoon butter, melted

 

Put bottom crust in each pie pan.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

 

In a large pot, cook the beef and sausage with spices until lightly browned.  Drain off any grease. You should not need to add water.

 

Add potatoes O’Brian. (No need to thaw)

 

Cook, stirring often to keep meat and potatoes from scorching or sticking until the potatoes are soft.  Drain off any remaining grease.

 

Mash the meat and potato mixture with a potato masher or spoon so that the mixture is uniform, with no large pieces of meat or potatoes remaining.  (Taste the mixture to see if more spices are needed and adjust to your taste.)

UPDATE: You can put the meat and potatoes in a crock pot and cook until the meat is cooked and potatoes soft.

Fill pie crusts with hot meat mixture and top with the upper crust.  Put a few slits in the top crust and brush with melted butter.

 

Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

 

Serve warm with ketchup.  (Some people like a beef gravy instead.)

 

Note: pies can be made ahead, cooled, wrapped tightly and frozen.  Defrost and heat thoroughly in oven before serving.

 

Have a spiritual solstice and a Merry Christmas or a great Holiday of your choosing.

 

Kim